Battle Scars
by ChromeJedi
Summary: It's the year 2025 and America has been involved in World War 3. The need for soldiers is so dire that they've even gone and started a draft. Gray, Natsu, Gajeel and Lucy are swept up by this tide of war and end up in basic training. But if they think that's hard they haven't even seen real combat. Join them and every other Fairy Tail character in Fairy Company as they storm WW3 AU
1. Saying Goodbye

**Hi, I'm ChromeJedi and this is my first fanfiction! The story goes as follows, its a Fairy Tail AU. What if all our favorite Fairy Tail wizards, weren't wizards at all, but instead they were your regular average high schooler (where anime color/style hair is totally logical and okay) who get drafted into World War 3? The story will follow them through basic training all the way up to the end of the war. Lock and load guys, to follow Fairy Company into battle.**

**Fair Warning: Call of Duty quotes… expect "JUMP FOR IT!"**

**And before we start I'll just go ahead and announce the ships so I don't get any hate.**

**Natsu: Lisanna**

**Gray: Mirajane**

**Gajeel: Levy**

**Loke: Lucy**

**Jellal: Erza**

**Romeo: Wendy**

**Gray: Juvia (ONE SIDED)**

**Any other ships are up in the air right now.**

**Please leave a like, comment, or criticism as it keeps me raring to go!**

Natsu yawned, _Thank God it's eighth hour, I don't know if I could've done another one of those. _He thought to himself as he walked down the hall. Midyear Finals had just finished up for the day and they **sucked**. On top of being tired, he had a game tonight. Sure he liked basketball, but it wasn't really his thing. He was a lot better at football, and had a serious fastball when baseball season came around. Sighing he checked his phone, **3:30**. He had thirty minutes yet before he had to go meet up with the team to go over game plans. _Too the lunchroom then._

He stopped at his locker to dump his stuff and then headed to the commons. There he saw his friends, but they were all huddling around something. So he headed over to see what was up. "Hey guys! What's going on!" Gray looked up. The raven haired athlete was definitely Natsu's best friend, even if they didn't see eye to eye all the time. In the fall Gray was captain of the Cross Country team, in the winter he played Basketball with Natsu, and in the spring he was a track star. "This isn't the time to be perky man…" "Why..." Everyone turned to look up at him, Lisanna had tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Who made you cry Lisanna?!" Natsu had gone from happy to pissed in a matter of seconds... no one ever made Lisanna cry. Gray gestured down at a piece of paper, "Chill man, this is what she's so upset about."

Natsu read the paper aloud.

**Official Military Draft List**

**Any and all names on this list must contact the Military Recruiting Office in their vicinity before a period of 30 days has past since day of post to be evaluated for Military service. (A lot of other formal military writing including locations of Recruiting Offices)**

**List of Draftees**

…

…

…

…

…

…

**Natsu Dragneel**

…

…

…

**Gray Fullbuster**

**Gajeel Redfox**

…

…

**Lucy Heartfilia**

**(More names of Draftees follow.)**

Natsu dropped the paper and it drifted to the ground. A couple words had just sent his entire world crashing down on him. The war had always seemed so far away, unreachable. China had finally enacted a plan years in the making in the year 2023. They had agents all over Russia stage a coup that threw it into chaos. China conquered the vast expanse that was Russia before the other countries could bat an eye. Mongolia joined the Chinese forming the AAA. Asian Alliance of Assholes, that's what America called them, but officially they were the CEU, Chinese Elite Union. Shortly after they bullied the majority of the Middle East into it as well as most of Asia. The EU and America banded together forming a defense along the Euro-Russia border known as the **Shield. **Down in Africa, led by Ethiopia, a collection of African countries bound only by national friendships stopped the CEU advance in Egypt.

But it hadn't stopped there. While the** Shield** held strong against the invaders Australia was evacuated and lent their forces to the African alliance. The EU, America, African Alliance, and Japan (the last remaining free Asian Country) formed the **New Allies. **That had all happened in the past 2 years. Both sides of the war had even each figured out a nuclear defense mechanism… so a nuclear apocalypse was no longer a worry. That was something right?

Natsu frowned as a million thoughts ran through his head. "They must've posted this today huh?" Gray nodded. Still shocked, Natsu could only hold an arm over Lisanna as she bawled into him. Gray stretched his arms and said, "Almost four Natsu, we better suit up." One of the people who'd huddled around to look at the list was shocked by this, "You just figured out you're going to war and you're still gonna play basketball?" Gray shrugged, "Why the hell not? After all we don't have to go right away and standing here crying about it sure ain't gonna help."

The guy still wasn't convinced, "Don't you want to… I don't know lament with your family or something?" Gray glanced over at Natsu who nodded to him, "Hah! Neither of us have a family to lament with, we're both from the same foster house. And all the people we'd want to say goodbye to are here at the school. So what do you say Natsu, shall we give them a show?" Natsu's signature grin lit up his face, which only caused Lisanna to cry more, lit up his face. He clasped Gray's hand in a handshake. "We're going up against the Ravens tonight, they're undefeated. In other words, I'm all fired up!"

Gray, Natsu, and Lisanna headed toward the locker room. As they neared the boys door Lucy met them, she had a depressed look on her face. "Guessing you read that list huh?" Natsu nodded. Lucy put an arm around Lisanna and took her back towards the gym. They got changed into their basketball uniforms and then followed the girls to the gigantic gym. Magnolia High was famous for its devotion to extra-curricular activities (not just sports) even if its academic scores were sub par. The two received a warm welcome from the crowds in the stand.

A big muscled guy with long spiky black hair walked up to them. "'Sup Gajeel?" Gajeel was a year older than the two juniors and had fun messing with them, but only to a point. "Not a lot. I'm looking forward to kicking some black bird ass tonight though, so you better not screw up Salamander." That nickname stung a bit as he knew it would soon be left behind. He'd gotten it when he was freshman and had been freaked out when the Biology teacher dropped a lizard on his face. It had been insulting at first until he took it as a compliment and rolled with it.

Coach Hemmerman walked up to three boys and smiled sadly. "So boys, this is your last game for a while huh?" They nodded. "Well, when you come on over to the huddle we'll go over the game plan. Lets blow these Ravens out of the water."

An hour and a half later Magnolia High had crushed the Ravens 50-80. Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and a couple other athletes on the list were called out so they could be properly applauded. The next day was a day off because of Finals week.

Lisanna had come over to Natsu and Gray's foster home. She smiled and greeted Mrs. Malone. "They're upstairs dear, getting ready for their big interview! I'm so proud of them, I hope they get that big city job Gray told me about." _They didn't tell her the real reason huh? Well I'm sure they had their reasons for not wanting her to know. _"Thanks Mrs. Malone," she sniffled, "Mind if I go see them?" "Not at all sweetie, come right in."

Her shoes clacked up the stairs and she stopped dead in her tracks. Natsu looked _**hot**_ in a suit. Gray too was rather dashing in a suit. Natsu turned and smiled, "Hey I didn't know you were coming to see us off?" The tears welled up in her eyes, "Ye-yeah, I mean if you have room in the car. I know you got to pick up Lucy." Gray looked at the two for a moment and then he smiled, "Yo Natsu, I'll go start the car." Natsu nodded a silent thanks to Gray as he left the room. Before Gray's back had even disappeared from the door threshold Lisanna had already sprinted and knocked Natsu back. "Please don't go Natsu… what am I going to do without you?" He gently ran his hand through her hair comforting her, "Don't cry Lisanna, you'll be fine. I already talked to Eve, he'll look after you. After all Eve's older brothers Ren and Hibiki have already been drafted… he's in the same boat."

"But I don't want Eve looking after me! I want you to stay Natsu! This war has already sent Mira and Elfman away to! Why won't you stay?!" She sobbed. "Shhh, Shhh… its all going to be okay. I promise. Don't make my last memory of you be crying kay?" Lisanna looked up. She wished she were older, if she were 17 instead of 15 she could enlist and go with him. "Look at me Natsu." He did, and she stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the lips.

"Well sorry I gotta ruin the moment, but we gotta run Natsu." Gray was standing arms crossed in the doorway. "Yeah let's go." The three of them got into Mrs. Malone's old 1967 Camaro, which was incredibly badass, and picked up Lucy at her place. "Where's Gajeel?" She asked as she got in. "He's a senior, he has his own car." Lucy nodded and they drove in silence for a half an hour when they reached the recruitment center.

The three of them got out and met Gajeel who'd been waiting for them, "Well its about time slowpokes, are you ready?" Gajeel opened the door for them as they walked in. The recruiter saddened visibly when he saw them walk in. "Too young nowaday… names." Natsu did the talking, "Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox." He nodded, "Hey good game yesterday guys." "Thanks."

"Just fill out these papers here, there is a helicopter outback that'll take you straight to military base for basic." Lucy was shocked, "Wait what? There isn't a waiting period? We just fill out our papers and you send us there?" The man looked up, depressed, "I'm sorry, as of now, we can't afford a waiting period." Gray put a hand on her shoulder and handed a copy of the forms out to everyone except Lisanna. As they were filling it out Lisanna walked up to the recruiter. "Sir?" "Hmmm?" "Can you tell me something?"

"Sure, what is it girl?" Lisanna blinked tears out of her eyes, "Two of my siblings are over there fighting right now, can you tell me if they're still… alive?" The man looked up from his work again and he nodded, "I can try young lady. Names?" "Elfman and Mirajane Strauss." He stopped and dropped his pencil. "I can't tell you anything about your brother. but you said Mirajane Strauss right?" She nodded. He smiled, "Then I have good news for you, your sister is known as the Demon. She flies a strike heli like no other. She's Fairy Company's air support and is famed all over the **Shield**, along with the rest of Fairy Company. And she sure as hell is still alive." Lisanna sighed with relief.

About then they finished their papers and handed them back to the man, "Everything seems to be in order, as I told you, the helicopter is outside." Natsu nodded and led his friends out. He waved a hand over his shoulder at Lisanna. She stifled her tears and ran outside to watch the helicopter fly off.

**So how'd I do? Please fav and review, even if it's negative! I take all opinions into account.**


	2. A Powerful Team

**Thanks for reviewing Vergil I really appreciate it!**

**You guys are going to notice that some of the characters from Fairy tail are a little OOC. For example in this story, Jura is still kind and caring however he has a higher sense of honor and is louder and sterner. Mirajane is going to be the one who's most evident. While she is still going to be sweet and nice and such, when she's a pilot it will almost be her taking on her Satan Soul, effectively making her demonic to a point.**

The helicopter was short and silent, nobody talked. It was almost like everyone was coming to terms with what was happening. Gajeel was the least bothered, he'd planned to join the military anyway. But, as much as he hated to admit, he did dislike seeing his friends so distraught. The helicopter began an easy descent onto an airfield where an officer with some kind of rank walked up to them.

They all dismounted and stood facing him. "Four of you eh?" The broad shouldered man thought to himself for a moment, "My name is Colonel Jura Neekis, I'll be overseeing your training in Fort Kellingwood as well as placing you in your respective specialties." Lucy looked up, "What specialties do you mean, if you don't mind me asking?" One of his armed guards frowned, "You will address the Colonel as Sir!" Lucy sweat dropped and nodded, "...Sir"

The Colonel turned and looked grimly at her, "In the building over there, I will assess your physical, academic, and emotional capabilities. After that I will hand you a sheet of paper, it will determine your specialty for the combat trials in three months as well as your likely squad position in the real war. Upon passing the combat trials you will be assigned to a company where they will put you to use." Lucy was startled, "So fast? Just three months of training? Are the casualties and need for bodies that necessary?"

The colonel shook his head, "Its not that we are losing people, its that we don't have enough. The **Shield **works well in concept, but we don't have the manpower for it. We need to go on the offensive as fast as possible and so the new recruits are required, but don't worry young one, you will be trained sufficiently." Lucy nodded. "Now if the four of you would proceed to barracks over there."

Natsu led the way, it wasn't hard to find, it was a big building that looked more like an office complex than a military barracks. They walked in and everyone was amazed, the building was riddled with exercise rooms, weird tech places full of computers, medical simulations, and combat simulators. It was literally a high schooler's dream house… problem was, it was for training soldiers. "Wow…" He breathed. "Shut your mouth hot head, you look like a dumbass." Gray scolded him. Natsu was about to retaliate when the loudspeaker boomed on.

A woman's voice came out of the speakers. "All new arrivals are to report to floor 3 mess hall. There you will be classed into your specialties."

"Wait, don't they gotta run a bunch of tests and stuff to determine that?" Lucy asked to no one in particular. Gajeel shrugged. Just then an orange haired kid, not much older than Natsu, stood up. He looked quite flashy in his suit and tie. "Naw, the Colonel picks who goes where solely on his intuition. He's a very follow the 'gut instinct' kind of guy. Name's Loke by the way, and yours beautiful?" Everybody, especially Lucy was baffled. "Its… uh. L-Lucy." She stuttered out, flustered. "Hot damn! you're even cute when you're embarrassed."

"Aww shut up! Who are you and how do you know all this stuff?" Loke grinned, "I already told you girly, I'm Loke. Tactical Sniper in training. Failed my combat trials, that's why I'm still here. Tell you what, why don't you guys and this lovely lady follow me to the mess hall. We can talk more after."

They arrived at the mess hall a couple minutes later. There was a general ruckus going on as all the draftees and enlisted alike milled about waiting for the Colonel. And then a loud shout shattered the chatter. "Ten hut! Colonel on deck!" Everyone but Natsu, Gray and Gajeel saluted. Natsu scratched his head, "What's going on?" They watched as a path slowly cleared for the wise looking Colonel and he surveyed everyone as he walked past.

As he was getting closer, Loke elbowed the three of them. "Salute! or his stuck up Guard Captain will taze you." They saluted. Colonel Neekis stood at the front of the room and prepared his speaking voice. "EVERYONE LINE UP!"

Nobody disobeyed Colonel Neekis. Gray stood rigid like a statue next to Natsu and Gajeel. _What the Hell is happening? _He knew the gist of it, but it didn't make much sense to him. And then Jura began pacing the lines of rigid soldiers. At every recruit he would pause, scribble something on a sheet of paper and hand it to them. Then he'd move on to the next one. Gray noticed a short soldier in front of him who couldn't have been taller than 5 ½ feet. He was visibly shaking.

Gray was about to reach out and tap him on the shoulder to calm him down… or something. But just then the soldier straightened as Jura walked down the line. The Colonel paused and then smiled warmly at him. "You have courage. That is good recruit, you will need it." He scribbled something down and handed the guy a piece of paper. Jura went down the rest of the row and then came down Gray's row.

He once overed Gray and muttered something to himself and handed Gray his slip, as well as Natsu, Lucy, and Gajeel. He went on. This whole thing took about an hour to get through the 200 odd recruits. Then the Colonel left and suddenly it was a mad scramble to see what everybody had gotten written down. Surprisingly, some people's messages were **not suited for combat.**

Gray and the others gathered around each other, and Loke who seemed to decide he wanted to tag along. "So, who's gonna say theirs first?" Asked Gajeel. Nobody wanted to, because everyone knew if any of their specializations overlapped, they couldn't be in the same squad. Gajeel shrugged, "Me first then, okay." He through his paper in the middle.

**Gajeel Redfox**

**-Mech**

"What the Hell is a mech?" He asked and Loke obliged to answer, holding out a tablet with the details and training schedule of each specialization.

**Mech**

**(Insert Heavy Strength and Cardio Training schedule as well as minor tech ed.)**

**The mech is the forefront of any squad. Enveloped in a suit of mechanical armor he fights with his massive arms, MMGs (Mech Machine Guns), and powerful RPG launcher.**

**Not Squad compatible with: Riot Control, Heavy Weapons, Tank Engineer**

Gajeel shrugged, "So I get to be a badass, cool. Next!" Lucy grimaced as she tossed her slip into the middle.

**Lucy Heartfilia**

**-Spotter**

**Spotter**

**(Several Tech Ed classes, basic conditioning, Battle Field Analysis, Mental Fortitude)**

**The job of the spotter is simple, he/she stays toward the back of the formation, organizing the battle as it goes on. She lends her support by calling artillery and danger close drone fire. A good squad shouldn't have their Spotter in any direct combat.**

**Not Squad compatible with: Battlefield Medic, Phase Soldier, Drone Tech.**

"B-but I'm not good at planning! Especially on the fly." Loke patted her on the back,"Colonel Neekis is never wrong." She slapped his hand away, "Creep!" Natsu grinned, "Is it bad I'm excited to see this."

**Natsu Dragneel**

**-Hero**

**Hero**

**(Lots of Conditioning and Training, Combat Arms Advance, Psionic Schooling, Mental Fortitude.)**

**The Hero is the all around leader of a combat squad. He's the first one in and the last one out, proficient with most weapons, melee, gun, or psionic.**

**Not Squad compatible with: Officer**

"Only one I'm not compatible with? What's up with that?" Loke sighed, "The Hero Specialization takes the place of a planning officer, you lead on the field, with the flow of battle. The officer is your counterpart, behind a desk calculating everything." Natsu just pretended he understood that. Gray's lot was last.

**Gray Fullbuster**

**-Special Weapons**

**Special Weapons**

**(Lots of firearm classes, And even more conditioning training, Wielding powerful weapons.)**

**Special Weapons carries weapons, not just guns, that you don't see everyday. Powerful weapons with unique effects are the power of the Special Weapons man. Special Weapons should excel at experimenting and making new combos of weaponry and science.**

**All Squad compatibility**

"Alright, so all of us can be on the same squad… cool." Loke nodded, "But in order to qualify for Combat Trials you need a formal squad of 7. I can join you, that makes 5. And we'll need to find Gajeel a System Tech to keep his mech up and running that makes 6, which means we only have to find one person who is compatible with all of us.. All of you hand me your cards to me so I can enter us as an official squad."

Loke entered all the information into his little tablet, Lucy thought that he had definitely done this before. They saw everyone's info flash in front of the screen, including Loke's.

**Loke Celest**

**-Tactical Sniper**

**(Classes not required)**

**The Tactical Sniper is a powerful friend who stands either way behind enemy lines or in the back of your squad formation. He excels in taking out single targets as well as low flying aircrafts.**

**Not Squad compatible with: Assassin Sniper, Phase Soldier, Barrage Sniper**

"Classes not required? How do you get off like that?" Natsu asked, a little miffed. Loke grinned, "I've told you three times now, I failed my Combat Trials because of a squad error, I already completed all my classes. My job now is mainly to lead you guys to the point where we can pass those tests. Now Squad Leo, we have to go find us two more members."

Loke walked off, not noticing that everyone had paused, "Squad Leo?" Lucy asked. "I'll roll with it." Said Gray and he went off to find that shaky soldier… he could probably use a team. The rest of them caught up with Loke.

Loke scanned his tablet looking over all the registered System Techs, he found the first one and nodded. "Found one, Gajeel has to do the talking though, he's the one that needs her." They said as a shy looking blue haired girl sat at one of the tables. Gajeel approached gingerly, as if she were a dangerous creature waiting to strike. "You're a System Tech." He stated bluntly. The blue haired girl looked up, "Yes?"

Lucy facepalmed, "Gajeel's even more of a clutz than when Natsu took Lisanna on their first date." She put herself in between the two, "Hi, please excuse my friend Gajeel, My name's Lucy. And we need a System Tech for our Squad." The blue haired girl pushed her classes up her nose and smiled. "I take it he's a Mech then right?" Lucy confirmed it. "Then sure, I don't have a Squad anyway. My name's Levy McGarden."

Gajeel was hiding his blush pretty well, this girl… what was this feeling. _I don't like it… Go away._ Loke added her name to the register.

**Levy** **McGarden**

**-System Tech**

**(Heavy Tech Ed Classes. Joint Training, Autoworks, Sciences of Bioengineering.)**

**The System Tech was created solely for the purpose of supporting the Mech. His/her job is to fix, maintain, and improve the Mech suit. He/She also has the ability to activate only abilities from the Mech. Such as the full retreat mode, or Fortress Mode.**

**Squad Compatibility: Must have Mech in Squad**

Meanwhile with Gray…

Gray found that same soldier sitting alone. He seemed pretty upset about something. "Hey, what's up?" Asked Gray. The soldier looked up, he shocked Gray. _That kid is definitely not 17. _"Hello… my name's David." "David huh? You got a squad yet?" David shook his head. "No, nobody seems to understand my card." "Really? Let me see it." Gray read it over and he too, was puzzled. The black haired, silver eyed, kid in front of him groaned. "See you don't get it either." "No, but I know someone who might… LOKE!" The sudden shout made David jump.

Loke walked nonchalantly over, "Whatcha need Gray?" "This card, what does it mean?" Loke gave it a once over, "Damn good find Gray…" David looked up, "What do you mean?" Loke read it aloud.

**David Shraprel**

**- Standard Bearer**

**Standard Bearer**

**(Melee weapons training, Speed and Endurance conditioning.)**

**The job of the Standard Bearer is straightforward. He charges into battle armed only with weapons of old times. The Standard Bearer represents everything that the New Allies are fight for.**

**Compatible with All**

"See, what good is that? I'm cannon fodder? Bringing a sword to gunfight… no a nuclear war, isn't going to get us anywhere." Loke laughed, "The Standard Bearer specialization is a position rarely given out. You see it lacks physical power but holds something much more important. Morale even in the bleakest of moments, if someone is willing to charge a tank with only a sword while waving a big ass flag, then everyone who's ever hunkered down to wait it out can rise and fight again. The Standard Bearer leads the charge. Definitely the most vulnerable of all the specializations. but old weapons also have their merits. EMPS are so common nowadays our regular weapons can't function all the time. Then it becomes an all out melee brawl." David looked down at the card in a new light, but then frowned.

"I still don't have a Squad." Loke turned to look at the five others who had gathered around. Natsu nodded at him. "Welcome to Squad Leo, David."

**Boring Chapter I know, fighting will come next chapter as well as appearances by Mirajane and Gildarts. And the specializations are kind of supposed to take the place of magic, as the story unfolds they'll make a lot more sense.**


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